Mi's Notes:

This is Mi's new… what's it? Two-shot story? This is fairy tale and DGM crossover! Don't worry, I'll still continue my DLH ^^,

By the way, one reviewer told Mi about the terrible grammar I have. Of course I notice it too! *sobs* In fact, I write fanfiction using English so I can improve more. I have no idea about English at first, and I learned from read another fiction… It's probably wasn't good enough. So… anybody wants to be my beta? *blinks* But I don't know how's that work so you have to tell Mi!

By the waaay~ this fic is dedicated to Panda-Hiroko ;P

Title : Not SO Cinderella or Of Forced Marriage and Flying Shoes Part I

Summary : The Cinderella is a boy, desperately wants to escape from his drunken bastard of stepfather. The Prince hates his life, desperately wants to escape from his crazy siblings and his too-loving father. Based on the famous fairy tale Cinderella. This is SLASH, baby. No like no read. See the cute button with an arrow on your screen?

Rating : K+ I think…? I am suck at rating my stories… Tell me if this rating is right.

Pairings : Yullen of course, with a side of Lucky and a mention of CrossMana (If this offend you then just ignore it. Somehow, the idea of Cross being gay is very wrong, I know)

Warning : Mild shonen-ai, boys kissing, crossdressing Allen, Kanda's potty mouth, and OOCness! Involving forced marriage (or forced engagement) and violent use of high-heeled shoe as a throwing weapon. Sorry for any grammar and spelling mistakes.

Disclaimer : ...you don't know?

Not SO Cinderella

or

Of Forced Marriage and Flying Shoes

Every tale always began with one phrase,

'Once upon a time'…

We couldn't choose what would happen on our life. Not yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Every lucky day, normal day, and bad day was always randomly chosen for you. If you are lucky enough, maybe someone up there kindly gave you a nice morning to start you day.

But unfortunately, today wasn't the lucky day. At least that was what going on in the mind of the two persons whom I wanted to tell their story for you.

In this particular bright sunny morning, when the sun shining oh-so brightly and the birds fled and chirped like there was no tomorrow, suddenly a loud curse could be heard from the luxurious Black Order Palace of Black Order Kingdom (yeah… ain't I creative… *sarcasm*) followed by some cracking noises.

"…you just… NO WAY IN THE FUCKING HELL YOU FUCKING OLD MAN!"

And every mother in the kingdom quickly covered their children's virgin ears.

"Nah, Yuu… calm down…" a wise voice came from the throne with a sound of sigh on the background.

"HOW IN THE FUCKING HELL I CAN CALM FUCKING DOWN?" once again noises of something crashed could be heard, it sounded like a porcelain vase was crashed to the floor. It was the tenth vase if I was right.

"Yuu, just calm down! That vase is a rare gift from the Noah Kingdom!"

"DO YOU THINK I FUCKING CARE ABOUT THAT?" CRASH! "Hah!"

"Language, Yuu…" a sigh, "I like the blue vase actually… Oh, don't. The painting is very expensive, Yuu. Okay, you can throw the vases instead,"

"That's not going to solve the fucking problem!" roared the said Yuu. He was the youngest son of the Black Order King, the main protagonist of this story. Prince Yuu picked the chair nearby and threw it to the wall. The poor chair broke into tiny pieces.

"Dear Father," the melodious voice from the only daughter of the king said, "If we can't calm him down, we should pay the huge amount of money to fix the castle. And our income for this month is rather low…" she flashed a blinding smile at his dearest father as she stood up and walked over to his dearest brother.

And with a swift movement from the princess' hand to the back of the prince's neck, the angry prince fell to his knees, then fainted. A rather large bump could be seen from the back of his head.

"You know, my dear sister," the oldest prince said to his sister, hint of amusement lost from his voice. "Sometimes I really scared of you,"

And the princess just gave him the angelic smile again.

And for you, the confused reader, the bizarre scene earlier happened after the wise king of Black Order Kingdom announced a rather shocking news to his dear family at breakfast. Let's take a look on the flashback so you could fully understand what was going on.

After a time it fell out that the King appointed a festival, which was to last three days,

and to which all the beautiful maidens in the country were invited,

from whom his son was to choose a bride.

Like I described above, this morning was the usual peaceful morning on the Black Order Kingdom. The royal family gathered at the table, eating in comfortable silent when The King of Black Order Kingdom suddenly remembered something.

"Oh! Yuu, your birthday is on the next week," he exclaimed. The youngest prince Yuu just grunted and continued to eat his special miso soba (For breakfast? Don't ask me) ignoring his father completely.

The beautiful princess of Black Order Kingdom, Princess Lenalee, joined the conversation, "Oh yes, I remember. You'll be 20 next week, Yuu. You're practically an adult now!" she said excitedly, smiling (Don't freaked out because I made her a smiling female demon in angel disguise here) to her older brother. Prince Yuu once again just hn-ed in response and focused his attention to the bowl of half-eaten soba in front of him. No one could disturb his precious moment with his dear soba…

"Then you will be legal for drink!" Prince Lavi, the oldest prince joined the conversation, "Huh, you'll be an adult next week but you still a virgin," he continued with a fake sigh, "What a waste, don't you think?"

A growl was the answer from his dearest younger brother.

"Yes yes, I want to talk to you about that," King Komui wiped his mouth with his napkin and put it down, gazing at his children dearly, "And I want to take this time to talk about your future,"

And this gained the attention from all his children, included the black haired prince. He put his golden (Umm…?) bowl aside and asked, "What are you saying, old man?"

King Komui smiled, of course every people in the kingdom knew about their second prince's bad temper and his colorful language (Also his undying love for soba). For some reason they're fine with it. Quite strange but we didn't want to talk about that. The king's smile brought a chilly feeling and for the very right reason Yuu had a very baaaaaaaaaad feeling about this.

"Like you always said, Yuu. I am old," the king said dramatically, and Yuu knew from who his older brother picked that annoying trait. The princes and princess raised their eyebrows at the King's statement but didn't interrupt him, urging him to continue, "And nobody knows when or where I will die," Hopefully sooner than he expected—Yuu thought.

"Um… isn't it a bit too early to talk about your death, Dad?" Lavi scratched his head. And for once in his life Yuu agreed with his annoying brother, "You're still so healthy… And you can visit all the houses in our kingdom by walking," he pointed out, not bothering to mention that his father didn't have one single gray-hair on his head.

Lenalee nodded seriously, "That's right. Why are you suddenly talk about this? You won't tell us that you have an incurable disease suddenly, right?"

"No, my dearest Lenalee. I am healthy as ever. But the problem is…" King Komui sighed, "I am very worried about the future of our kingdom. This is concerning of who will be my replacement after I died,"

"Your replacement?" Lenalee asked confusedly, "Do you mean the one who will rule as the king after you? Isn't it oblivious, Father? Of course is it Lavi who will be your heir. He is the first prince."

"Yes. But I am thinking about giving the kingdom to you three," King Komui eyed his children seriously, "So you can work together and raise our kingdom to be the greatest and biggest and ri—"

"Okay-okay," Yuu immediately cut his father's rambling, "Get to the point,"

"So," The king suddenly smiled—Lenalee's smile everytime she planning something devious, he clapped his hands once and announced, "I got this marvelous idea! I am truly a true genius!"

Lavi, Yuu, and Lenalee just stared in confusion as his father suddenly put out a roll of parchment out of nowhere and put it at the table.

Feeling brave and because he was the first child, Prince Lavi picked the parchment and read…

Short or long?
Slit or fringed?
Black? Red? Slinky? Sexy?
The choice is up to you...

Come on all the single pretty maidens

The princes are going to choose their bride!

Dancin, dancin,
Dancin Machine...
Hustle on down,
and be ready to celebrate
This party's sure to be first-rate.

The king request the honor of your presence

At the birthday ball of his beloved son,

The second prince,

Prince Yuu

"Of course!" King Komui said, ignoring the shocked face of his children—especially Yuu, "The excellent ruler must have a nice companion on his side, to guide him and to give him love… One like your beloved mother," he sighed, sinking in nostalgia before added, "Oh! I don't include my dear Lenalee here, because she's far too young to have a… a pervert who want to take her away from me," he muttered the last sentence darkly and went cheerful again all of sudden, "So… You're going to choose your bride—or brides—there!"

"WHAT THE HELL?"

Then we back to the present where the antique vases currently being thrown to the wall by the raged prince. Quite cleverly Princess Lenalee shut his brother up by hit him on the back, right on the vital spot behind the neck. King Komui immediately called the guards and ordered them to bring the unconscious prince back to his room, and locked it. The peace came back again to the entire palace. Not for long by the way. The king wondered if he should open an earplugs factory…

At night, when she was tired, she had no bed to lie on, but was forced to sit in the ashes on the hearth;

and because she looked so dirty through this, they named her CINDERELLA.

Meanwhile in a dirty back alley, somewhere not too far away from the magnificent palace of Black Order…

"Royal straight flush, gentlemen," a sweet voice said, followed by a loud groans. (Don't ask me if they already play poker in this era…. Don't ask me!)

"No way!"

"This is the fifth time we lost!"

"Are you cheating, kid?"

A boy, looked like 16 years old (although he is 18 years old this year) with white silvery hair just smiled innocently at those comment, "Of course I am not cheating… How would I cheat in front of so many people like this? This is just a luck I guess," the boy said to three men in front him. He stretched his hand as to prove it, "Look here. You can check if I hiding the cards,"

The men just groaned again and roughly handed the money to the boy's hand.

"Thank you!" the boy said happily as he gathered the money. Of course he look happily innocent at once glance… but inside, he was cackling madly at the foolish adults in front of him. "What a pleasant game, gentlemen. Now if you'll excuse me…" he stood up, hiding his smirk behind his hand. "Farewell! I'll come to play again sometime!"

"Don't!"

"Just get the hell away from here! That was my food money for three days!"
"Don't come back here!"

The boy just hummed and turned to left. Happily put his winning token to his pocket. A slight devious smirk played on his lips. Ooh, he definitely would get back here and make those stupid idiots run out of money… Anyway, they were the one who first approached him and asked him to play poker with them. With a bet. A money bet. He would be damned if he didn't get all the money on his pocket. There was no chance in hell he would lose in playing poker.

"Master! Master Allen!" at the voice of somebody called him, the boy looked around. He looked over his shoulder to see a short little boy around 12 years old with brilliant mob of blond hair and light brown eyes was running and waved his hand at him.

"Tim?" the boy, Allen, quickly approached the little blond boy, leaving the stressed men behind him, "Tim, what are you doing here? This place is dangerous for you!" he screeched worriedly. The thought of such a small, innocent kid running around in some dangerous territory of the homeless criminals—well, not that all the homeless men were criminals… Still,

"But… but," Tim fidgeted a bit, "Master Cross… Master Cross coming home! And he is asking for you,"

"What? That bastard came home?" Allen hurriedly took Tim hand and guided him out of the alley, "After three months missing and leaving all those debts on us he still dare to step his damned feet here? I want to punch his face already! Oh, and Tim. I already told you just call me Allen,"

"But you're my master! I can't do that!"

Allen just sighed at the response. Really, he always thought of Tim like his little brother. Tim was the servant his stepfather brought when he moved to their house. Allen really against the child-slavery (or so he thought) although his stepfather said it didn't matter and Tim himself wanted to work for their family, he still felt the need to tell the younger boy that he was considered a family.

Ah, the thought of his stepfather made him fumed a bit (Well, not a bit, actually). Allen's mother died when he was born. After that, his father raised him alone, and his life was perfect like that. Until some years ago, his father married again… to a MAN! Okay, he was fine with the fact that his father was gay. He was fine if his father wanted to marry again. But the problem was his new 'husband' was completely a jerk.

Out of the alley, Allen and Tim arrived in front of a nice looking house. Allen's house. Well, it was his father's house. But since his father died two years ago, the place was his now. Allen saw a tall man with vibrant red hair waited outside the gate, smoking. Tim happily bounced over and greeted the man.

"Master Cross! Good morning!" Tim smiled as Cross patted his head. Allen frowned at the affectionate gesture. Okay, maybe it was just him. But Cross was oddly fond of the little boy and dare he said it? The bastard Cross was actually a bit… protective of Tim. Allen had one suspicion maybe Tim was Cross' illegitimate child with one of his ex-girlfriend.

Cross Marian, his stepfather, is well known in the city as the perfect womanizer. Why? His stepfather always flirted with everything walking on two legs. He didn't care though. Sometimes he wondered if his stepfather bad habit was a result of his father's death. That was… acceptable if he was suffered from the lost of his lover. But all the time, these bad habits of his stepfather always brought trouble for Allen.

"What is it?" Allen walked towards his stepfather, eyes narrowed is suspicion, "Tim said you were looking for me?"

Cross smirked and dumped a thick pile of papers on his hands.

"Wha—What? What is this?" Allen stumbled backward and his eyes examined the white papers on top. OH My God… Not this again…

"Take care of those, I'll go again! Take care of Tim!"

"You damn leech! Fucking pervert! Get you sorry ass back here! Pay the bills yourself!"

Today was another bad day for the poor Allen.

So they took off her fine clothes, and put upon her an old grey cloak, and gave her wooden shoes for her feet.

"See how the once proud princess is decked out now," said they, and they led her mockingly into the kitchen.

Then see was obliged to work hard from morning to night, and to go out early to fetch water, to make fire, and cook and scour.

"Haaa—"

"Master Allen, people said your luck and happiness will decreased every time you sigh!"

"Yes, yes, Tim…" Allen patted Tim on the head. Of course the child was too young. He didn't have the heart to tell him that his beloved master actually a bastard, pervert, goddamn useless womanizer who always dumped his bills to his stepson and his little servant for pay. Let the kid believed that his master is a good-hearted man who kindly took him from the street and raised him…

"Now why don't you go to the kitchen and tell Jerry to bake more chocolate muffins?" he pushed Tim softly on the back and went to the counter again.

To pay for the bills, Allen worked (and sometimes gambled) several jobs at the city. Tim always offered to help him, but he didn't want the boy to worry about it.

Allen looked up at the sound of bell chimed. He automatically greeted, "Welcome to Jerry's Sweet Bakery! How can I help you?"

A girl with red cloak entered the bakery. She waved at him as she opened her cloak, revealing her beautiful face and dark long hair. From the dress she wore everyone could guess that she was a noble.

"Oh!" Allen recognized the girl right at the first glance. He smiled as the girl approached him, "Such an honor to have your presence here, Princess Lenalee. May I help you?" he emphasized the word 'princess' a bit, earning a pout from the said princess.

"Don't call me that! You ruined my perfect disguise!" she pouted and smacked Allen's shoulder playfully. Allen just laughed at his friend.

"Okay-okay, I am so sorry Lenalee. The guises didn't go nicely I think… You must wear a mask next time you go out. And your dress is definitely too nice for a commoner, darling," he chuckled and dodged again a half-hearted punch Lenalee gave him, "But seriously, what bring you here?"

Princess Lenalee inherited her father's love for his pupil. They always have time to disguised themselves (Quite poorly) and visiting the city. One time, Allen helped the almost-robbed Lenalee (although the girl chased away the men herself in the end. She's quite scary) and they instantly became best friend.

"Actually, I want to meet Jerry," Lenalee pull out a roll of parchment from his handbag and put it on the counter, facing Allen, "I want to order a big and delicious birthday cake!"

"Birthday…?" Allen eyed the parchment and at Lenalee's gesture to read it, he slowly opened the parchment and bit back a snort at the words written there, "Seriously? Who write this invitation?"

"Well, my dad is a bit eccentric," Lenalee grinned, "Although this time it is really interesting. He wants Lavi and Yuu to search for their bride-to-be in the party. Saying that it's the time for them to get a companion… so they can rule the Black Order together after my father passed away,"

"Well, that's a bit exaggerating… Your father is still a healthy as ever last time I see him," he looked at the invitation letter again, "So… this is Prince Yuu birthday party. So I assuming he is the one you told me about, the foul mouthed and always angry one, right?" Allen rolled back the parchement.

Allen knew King Komui, and had a good relationship with him (It seemed that his deceased father and his stepfather is a close friend of the King). And he already seen Prince Lavi sometimes ago, when he had to deliver a special order for the palace. But he never had a chance to see Lenalee's other brother, the one Lenalee always talked about. The prince who was always cursing like it was his first language and had a temper like a one-year-starved-wolf, Prince Yuu, "So you want to order a birthday cake for him?"

"Yes! Jerry is the best cook and baker in the world! I am sure he can make the perfect cake for Yuu's birthday! Oh, Allen, you'll come to the party, right? I want to introduce you to my brothers! You'll like Lavi. Yuu is fine too if you ignore his curses… You'll come, right?" Lenalee tried her best puppy eyes on him.

"Um, I am not sure…"

"But you're my best friend! I want you to meet my family!"

"Yes, but you know I have to work at that time—"

"Master Allen! This is the muffins!" Tim's voice boomed as he popped his head from the kitchen. He carried a tray of new-baked muffin and walked slowly to the counter. Tim brightened when he saw Lenalee on the counter, "Miss Lenalee! How are you?"

"Very good, Tim," Lenalee smiled equally brightly at the boy, "Call me Lenalee, Tim. We are friends, right?"

"No! Of course I can't!" Tim insisted. Allen wondered if it good for him to have such submissive behavior from this age (Like you one to talk, Allen. Tsk tsk…) but he quickly shook his thoughts away and helped Tim to put the muffins on display.

"You always like this… Oh-oh! You can bring Tim too, Allen! Tim, would you come to the party at the palace? My brother's birthday is coming and I want to introduce you to my family! You'll love my father!" Lenalee happily clapped her hands, "Oh, this will be greeee-aat!"

"Don't decide it for yourself, Lenalee," Allen let out a sigh and called Jerry over, "Like I said, I have to work,"

"You are working too much," the girl pouted again and then he turned his attention to the wide-eyed boy beside Allen, "Tim. You want to go to the party, right?" she asked, satisfied when the blond boy nodded his head in shy manner, "Yes, of course you want to go. Why don't you have a free day. If you can't do this for me, at least you can do this for Tim,"

Allen rubbed his forehead, "Lenalee—"

"Aa—lleeeen—!" Lenalee whined. Then she and Tim shot Allen with the most powerful weapon on earth. They gave him the puppy eyes. Double effect puppy eyes.

Oh well, darn it. He could clearly see where this was going…

Lenalee came back when the chaos started again in the palace. A giggling Lavi approached her and in that instant she knew his dear brother had teased the other prince again.

"Lavi…" she said warningly, "If you keep bothering Yuu, the party would be ruined. I already invited my friends to come over so don't you dare ruined it!"

Lavi just slung one arm to Lenalee's shoulder, guiding her away from the noise of destruction coming from her brother's room, "Alright, alright… I just can't help it. Why he's so upset about dancing with a cute girl anyway…"

"You don't seem too worried about this party. This is not just about Yuu, you know. Father wants you to find some nice girl to settle with too," Lenalee gave her brother a look. Lavi just shrugged.

"Well, it's not like I'll have to marry the girl within one day," Lavi replied calmly, "I'll just go at the party, dance with some nice noble girls and pretend to be interested in one of them. Who knows, maybe I'll ended with a true love after all," he gave his sister a wink, "With so many girls we invited, my—or maybe Yuu's soulmate must be one of them. Yuu just make everything difficult,"

"He doesn't like crowds," Lenalee said, "And he doesn't like to be surrounded by girls either,"

"Huh, if I didn't know better, I would say maybe he swings for the other team,"

Lenalee ears perked up at this, "What do you mean?" she peered at his brother curiously. If her prediction was right, then…

"Yeah…" Lavi shrugged and smirked at his little sister, "I think he doesn't attracted to girls…"

The gear on Lenalee's head started turning and she smiled. If she planned this right, then everybody could have their happy ending.

In the ruins that were once his room, Prince Yuu finally calmed down. Well, it because he ran out of breakable things to throw. With a snarl he plopped down to his torn-up bed, cursed loudly at his old man that was the current king of the Black Order Kingdom.

That damn old-man arranged the useless birthday party without his consents? Fine. He was told to find a suitable bride? Okay, fine! But why couldn't he search for his bride himself? Why should the fucking old man meddle with his business? He shuddered as he imagined a night of dancing and surrounded by annoyingly giggling girls… Oh my fucking god…

If only his father hadn't confiscated his sword he would cut the door in two seconds and ran out of the palace right now. He wanted to escape from all this torture! Prince Yuu desperately paced around in his room and planned the possibilities of escaping… He abruptly stopped.

No no no. No way in hell the Prince of Black Order ran away from his problem. He was not a coward, dammit! This small humiliation was nothing. He could bear it!

But one thought of the clingy princesses all across the world and he thought that over. If he didn't choose one of those girls at the ball, his father probably set up a blind date or whatever it called at this era with some girly princesses from another kingdom. Hell, it could be worse if his father planned to throw a party every fucking month just so he could choose for his 'lovely bride'.

He was doomed. At least he had the knowledge that the idiot brother of his go through the exact same treatment as him.

A soft knock on his door jerked Yuu awake from his musing. Didn't the old man ordered his guard to lock him here? So who's the visitor? A girl's voice called for him just outside his room answered his question in mind.

"Yuu? You had calmed down?" the door opened and his dear beautiful sister came to the sight. One of the two women in the world he could stand. The other one of course his beloved deceased mother.

"What?" it was miracle he didn't snap to his little sister. Well, half because he truly loves Lenalee, and half because he's more afraid to Lenalee than being ambushed by a skilled assassin. Women were scary creatures. He experienced this first hand from both the women in his life.

"You are finished with your sulking?" Lenalee sat down on his bed, not caring it was already torn, and grinned at him. He almost forgot that she was the reason he was locked up in this room. Almost.

"I am not sulking…" he mumbled, definitely not pouting. Prince Yuu of Black Order Kingdom was the manliest of the manliest men on earth—hair joke aside—he would never do something girly like pouting. Only the sissy guy pouting, like the idiot brother of his, or his thickheaded father, not him. Definitely not him.

"Why don't you just go to the party and dance with some girls? At least father won't suddenly introduce you to a princess from other kingdom. You can pretend to… interested in one girl so he can't bother you with arranged marriage,"

"I hate crowds," Yuu sighed and paced again, "I hate attending parties…" he glared at Lenalee this time, "And you know I couldn't stand those girls' giggles. Last time we had party, the princess from what's-the-name-country clung to me like some leech and wouldn't let me go for a day!"

Lenalee smiled and picked a rose on the floor. Maybe this one from the broken vase on the corner… She pointed the rose at Yuu's face as she spoke, "Nah, that exactly why you should attend the party! Wouldn't want some girls like that clings to you all the time. This time you can pick any girls you like, and maybe someone will catch your attention. I talk to Lavi before, and he said the possibilities of meeting a cute girl without giggling habits to marry. And maybe he's right! We invited a lots of girls, so maybe you can fibally find your beloved there! You're the prince of our kingdom, you're good looking, aside from the foul language you are very attractive. It is a waste if you still a single, like Lavi said. Most of our ancestor already married at 20 years old, you know,"

"The girls want me because I am the prince," Prince Yuu said deadpanned and paced again, "Because all those girls want to be rich without any problem. Just offer one tiara to them and they will worship you like some of god. Do you think that kind of girl suitable to be our future queen?"

"You just make an excuse…" Lenalee crossed her arms—stole the pose right from her brother, "So you will go or what?"

"Of course I am going. I don't want the old man bugging me for a year because of some stupid birthday party,"

Lenalee put the rose on the bed, she eyed her brother up and down, "And if you don't want to pick some girl who just want your status, don't go as the prince,"

"Comb our hair, brush our shoes, and fasten our buckles, for we are going to the festival at the King's palace."

Cinderella obeyed, crying, because she wished to go with them to the dance;

so she asked her stepmother whether she would allow her.

All girls in the Black Order Kingdom very excited for the coming party at the palace. Allen was very excited too. Why? Because he worked at one of the best jewelry shop, his salary this month surely would increase… Now that he thought about it… why didn't he worked at the clothes shop too… the bills this month should be covered!

"I am home, Tim!" Allen called as he entered his house, "Sorry I am late, the shop is very crowded this days because of the upcoming events…" his eyes widened at the sight of his stepfather that comfortably smoking on the couch of his living room, "What are you doing?"

Cross just looked at the parchment on his hand with interest. That… Why should that thing on his hands?

"Where did you get that?" Allen could see the corner of Cross' mouth morphed into a smirk. Bad news. Bad news.

"I am very famous," was the only reply from his stepfather, "But this is very interesting… Hey, brat, you must come to this party,"

"What? Why?"

"Because I said so,"

Because in his entire life… the things Allen hated most in the world was forced to pay bills… and being told to do something he didn't want to do. And those things always included his dear stepfather. In general, he HATED his stepfather…

"You can't make me! I have to go work and you know it all your damn fault!" Allen snarled, pointed an accusing finger at his smirking stepfather.

"Well, who knows what will happen there. For god fucking knows, the stupid prince probably choose you to be his damn bride…"

"Wh… wha… wha…"

Then the Bird threw down a dress of gold and silver, and silken slippers ornamented with silver.

These Cinderella put on in great haste, and then she went to the ball.

"…It's… Um, nice to see you here…" Lenalee's body shaking as she guided Allen and Tim to the palace. The ball would start in 30 minutes. All the servants busied themselves with decorations.

"Shut up, Lenalee…" Allen hissed to the princess beside him. He knew very well the girl was going to burst into laughter in any minutes, "Don't play innocent, I know you give the invitation to Cross,"

Lenalee laughed, hard—as hard as a princess should be, "But… I just want you to… relax a bit," her laughs morphed into little giggles as a servant passed by, "I don't… think he would… take my advice very seriously…"

"Yeah-yeah, whatever…" Allen sniffed as he adjusted the black 'dress' he currently wore. That crazy pervert actually put him in a dress! A girl's dress!

"But you look nice in those dress, Allen," Lenalee smiled approvingly, "I didn't think you actually the same size with me,"

"It's you! I should know this dress and shoes are yours!" Allen groaned in despair, "Why you do this to me, Lenalee?"

"Because I want you to come," Lenalee replied easily, "And that dress fit you more. How is my shoes?" she giggled and checked her black puffy dress on Allen's body. The dress clung to his body nicely. The color clashed with his pale skin and white hair, made him practically glowed in the light. Lenalee appraised her job. Maybe after this she would give the dress to Allen instead.

"Master Allen looks very pretty!" Tim piped up, much to Allen's chagrin and Lenalee's glee. Allen envied the child completely, very oblivious to the cruel world, and why he wore the proper 'boy's clothes' while Allen should wore this frilly—tight on the waist area, full of bows, and hard to walk with—dress? He cursed his life again. At least Cross promised to get him back home at 12 o'clock. Late and I'll leave you, he said.

Her sisters and stepmother did not know her at all and took for some foreign princess as she looked so beautiful in her golden dress;

Prince Yuu was standing at the corner of the hall, quietly watching some couples dancing and flirted with each other. His father was chatting with the King of Noah Kingdom—the special guest tonight, his brother already went hiding to god-know-where (a bastard. Why did he leave him alone?) and probably he was making out with his beloved books on the library... Then his sister… Yes. Now where the hell his evil sister? She was the one who told him to attend the ball, now she herself didn't come at all? Such a good sister… Maybe he couldn't do anything to her, but he could hide her precious pictures of men kissing in her room. Why the hell she had those pictures Prince Yuu didn't want to know at all.

He didn't notice a girl trying to catch his attention by fluttered her eyelashes at him.

Or the other girl who practically drooled at the sight of his body.

Tonight he asked his father nicely (more like threatened nicely) to never tell everyone that he was the prince. He didn't want every eyes focusing on him every time he walks by. And this would work as he never known as the loving prince who often visiting his citizen. He rarely went out of the palace except for hunting and battle-training.

Suddenly one of the brave girls tapped him on the shoulder. Yuu looked over his shoulder to find a blond girl with huge breast—well, it was nearly plopped out of her dress, staring at him with her pouty red lips and thick eyelashes. Ah… too much make-up.

"Yes?" he asked with lack of interest.

"I noticed you—" the girl began, Yuu was very much aware of the seducing tone she used… "Standing here alone the entire time," she pressed her body to the young prince, "Such a waste for a handsome man like you… Do you want to dance with me?"

Yuu never had the chance to reject her, because at that time another girl clung to his left arm, tugging him, "He won't!" she exclaimed and looked at Yuu's eyes directly, "She's not worth of your time. Why don't you dance with me instead? I am Lady Lilith Vanessa Arleen Silver," Lady Lilith Vanessa Arleen Silver fluttered her thick eyelashes. Okay, for your information, the Silver family is one the oldest noble family in the Black Order Kingdom.

The first girl yanked Lady Lilith Vanessa Arleen Silver's hand off of Prince Yuu—in which the prince appreciated with all his heart—and screamed like a banshee, "Why you little—"

"Hey! I saw him first!" Lady Silver (okay I am lazy) shrieked.

Yuu was ready to back away and escaped as far as possible (damn Lenalee and her way to convince him to attend this fucking party) when a husky and—thank you God—very manly voice cut right in, "Now now ladies…" at the time like this, Yuu really appreciated his brother's choice of friend. A tall and dark skinned man approached him and winked at the girls, made them swoon, "The proper ladies won't behave like that… Now if you gave me the permission to borrow the handsome man here a few second to talk?"

Yuu didn't waste the time. He yanked himself free and tugged Prince Tyki—the heir of Noah Kindom—away from the shrieking harpies.

"A little eager now, don't we?" Tyki laughed as Yuu dragged him to the opposite and women-free corner of the hall.

"Fucking shut it. My head will explode if I stand near them any longer… They won't stop bitching and screamed like a banshee," Yuu groaned to his hand.

"Well, you should take this opportunity to dance with the beautiful maidens…" Tyki took a glass of wine from a tray nearby and gave it to Yuu who snorted and shook his head, "No drink tonight? Well, I guess you stayed up sober so you can choose one of those beautiful ladies with clear mind?"

"That fucking rabbit told you?" the prince of Black Order Kindom glanced at the so-called-best-friend-of-his-brother. Tyki eyes were searching of something.

"Well, yes. My dear rabbit told me… I would say this is hilarious had my dear Lavi not be forced on the end…"

Okay. Yuu really didn't need to know that. He always knew there was… something more between the two than just the best friend title. Ugh… Bad image… "If you searching for that stupid brother of mine, he must be hiding somewhere in the library…"

Tyki's eyes brightened, Yuu nearly gagged in disgust…

"Thanks!" the dark skinned prince bounced over, leaving the poor prince alone to mourning his life… Huh, just consider it as payback to Tyki for helped him to get away from those girls.

Prince Yuu had one suspicion that he wouldn't see the two—Tyki and his brother—at all tonight.

And when he looked around, he found his troublesome little sister, the one who put him in this misery... And she was chatting happily with...?

Prince Yuu think maybe he was drunk, which was completely impossible because he didn't even touch a single wine tonight. But he though he saw an angel. His sister was talking with an angel who was wearing a black dress.

A white haired angel who was wearing a black dress? Damn it, this damn party already made him imagining things.

Presently the Prince came up to her, and, taking her by the hand, led her to the dance.

He would not dance with any one else, and even would not let go her hand;

so that when any one else asked her to dance, he said,

"She is my partner."

Allen started to get very uncomfortable in 'her' dress. The dress was really tight, especially on the waist area, making it difficult for him to walk or even breathe. The heels of his shoes nearly killed him. He tried very hard to not throw the shoes to the wall and just go barefooted. Ah, that sounded very tempting right now…

"Come on, Allen, cheer up!" Lenalee said too cheerfully for his ears. Sure, she was the number one lady in the kingdom and it would be troublesome if he murdered her right now. So maybe later.

"Look at that, Allen! They got mitarashi dango! You like it very much, don't you?" Lenalee pointed to a plate of mitarashi dango. Allen jerked his head.

"Where?"

"There. Why don't you take some? I will bring Tim to meet my brother. You can join us later," she said, smiling and took Tim's hand from Allen's hold.

"Wha—oh, sure," Allen just shrugged, forgetting his anger in a second. Whatever. He could hide later, but now, Mitarashi dango!

He surely never thought that now Lenalee was gone he was open for any attackers… err, I mean for any suitors. The over-excited Allen skipped to the mitarashi dango's plate and ready to pick some when someone tapped his shoulder.

"Yes?" he quietly asked. His heart was beating madly. Maybe this man knew him? Oh the humiliation! What should he do to shut this man u—

"Do you want to dance with me?"

What?

Did he hear it wrong? A… a guy just ask him to dance? Him? Maybe he was wrong. "Uh, excuse, me? Can you repeat it?" Oh my god, please be wrong!

"I… I asked if you want to dance with me," and that guy was blushing… He was freaking blushing! He was being hit by a guy? Cross, Lenalee, you're dead!

"I am sorry…" Allen replied shakily, "But I don't…"

"Miss," another hand tapped his shoulder, "Do you want to dance with me instead?"

"No, with me,"

"Shut up you peasant! This young miss will dance with me!"

And Allen, being the brave guy he was, he turned and ran.

Allen avoided crowds as he could, eyes searching for Lenalee and Tim. Heck, it was fine if he could find Cross at all! But sadly, he forgot about his worst sense of direction… So ladies and gents, he lost.

"Where is it…?" Allen looked around. These 'somewhere' was pretty familiar, with the beautiful white vase there… and the ocean painting there… Oh, the crystal lamp and the angel statue were very familiar too. Maybe Lenalee already brought him here sometimes ago. But where? Nobody was around, which mean he was perfectly safe from those guys and no one to ask about direction. Ahh, poor Allen. His knees gave away, he crouched on the marble floor and put his pounding head on his hands, screaming his heart out.

"Why?" he moaned out loud, "Why must this happening to me? I am a good kid! I always attend the Sunday march at the church, I never hit Cross although I want to! I always treated Tim kindly! Okay, maybe I always curse at Cross but he totally deserves it! So why I must stuck in this stupid dress in the middle of somewhere whereas I don't have a clue how to get home!"

After that he quickly took a deep breath. Okay, that relieving some of his stress meter, but he still stuck in the stupid dress in the middle of somewhere. So screaming using all his strength didn't help in this situation at all. Calm down now, Allen. Calm down and try to find a way to get back to Lenalee, or home.

But of course, we wanted to mess with our little Cinderella a bit. So when Allen was currently mourning over his life, a sound of footsteps came from behind him. He turned his head to meet a tall guy—Allen noticed this shakily—peered down at him with a glazed 'hungry' eyes. He gulped.

"What are you doing here, little Miss?" the man said with the sickeningly sweet voice. Allen forced a smile. Not his best smile but it was still a smile. Whatever.

"I… sorry," he managed to stand up, "I am a bit lost… Do you know a way to the main hall?" he asked. Pervert or not, he was going out from this palace. Must. But the resolve waver a bit when the man smiled. A nasty smile of a pervert. Why did Allen know that? Because his stepfather always used the exact same leer when he was eyeing a piece of 'meat'—or you could say a gorgeous little chick—to screw over.

Oh no…

"Of course I know," and Allen was sure he was talking about anything but the way to the main hall, "But why the hurry? You don't have anyone waiting for you, do you?"

Beautiful? Oh, he would show him who's beautiful… His pride as a man crumpled and stepped on again and again tonight. What was wrong with him and masculinity? Allen struggled to keep his bubbling anger from bursting. Nothing would come good if he punch the guy right now. Main hall first, and kicked ass later.

"Uh, actually… Princess Lenalee is waiting for me," nice answer, Allen. Now let's see this man deal with the acquaintance of the princess herself.

"Princess… Lenalee?" the man's eyes widened a bit, but then the smirk come back full force. Wrong tactics, then. "You're the princess' friend? So are you a princess from another country? I will know if I have met a beautiful girl like you in this kingdom before,"

Of course you wouldn't know, you pervert. Allen screamed mentally. I am a guy! That's why you never met me before! "No, I am not a princess… And I am from this kingdom actually…"

"Are you sure?" the man stepped forward and Allen immediately took two step back, "Don't be afraid. I won't bite you," he laughed.

"Yeah…" Allen laughed awkwardly, thinking which way faster to leave this pervert… Run away?

"Nah, why don't we talk a bit… So we know each other?" the man smiled and took Allen's hand. Allen's body tensed suddenly.

"I think… I will pass… I am afraid Princess Lenalee is worried…" he tried to yank his hand but the man pulled his little body forward.

"Like I said… don't be afraid. I won't bite you. Well, unless you tell me to…" Allen could hear the man's breath on his right ear. Now was the right time to panic. He pushed the man's chest desperately.

"Let me go, please," he said between the gritted teeth, "Or I will report you,"

"Play hard to get, eh?" the man laughed, he pulled Allen's body more until he was on the man's embrace. Allen tensed.

"Well, everybody is busy with the dance. And no one here to hear you. So why don't we play a bit…"

The man lowered his mouth to kiss Allen's cheek. And that was when he finally snapped.

"Let go of me… YOU BASTARD!"

Allen kicked the man RIGHT at the crotch area. He backed away then, searching for any exit when the man recovered.

"You little bitch—" the man snarled with one arm clutching painfully on the spot Allen hit earlier and one arm raised and ready to strike Allen. But then I decided Allen had enough suffered today and then I made the little Cinderella met his knight in shining armor for the first time…

"What do you think you are doing, you fucker?"

Allen barely saw what happened when the crazy man suddenly sprawled unconscious at his feet, because his eyes locked to the figure that stand proudly in front of him. To the tall, good-looking, long haired man that was the very first man in Allen's life who didn't look girly with his long ponytail… Enough with his hair, the face… The face… Allen couldn't find the words to describe the god-like face… the collarbone… Ugh, he seriously should get out from here.

"And you," his savior snarled and pointed a finger at Allen, "What are you doing here?"

Allen recovered from his daydream and prayed his voice didn't waver. No such luck, "I… I am… lost…" he admitted.

The handsome man sighed and turned around, Allen stopped breathing when he saw the guy's back. "Just follow me," he grunted, "I'll show you the main hall…"

"O oh… thank you,"

Allen really worried about his... sexuality right now.

To be continued… Is it very very bad? Not worth reading? Or just fine? Give me a review, will you?